After Chapter Twenty-Five
“It’s a boy!” Shouts follow me as I head into the kitchen for that water for my beautiful sister and niece.
I’m laughing because I know I’m right and I cannot wait until they all see it. I think I need to open a bet. I don’t need the money, but it would be hilarious to shove that money in their faces.
Yes, a bet would be…
A vibration comes from the island as I’m pouring Lynette’s water and I’m momentarily distracted by it, especially when I see the case cover of Emory in the Swiss Alps. That’s Tommy’s phone.
And currently, he’s dealing with the family we’re working with. They’re more annoying than our normal clients and like to contact us at any time or day so Tommy took over since I tend to be with female friends at the inconvenient times they like to contact.
But now we’re with family, and though I find these moments far more important than any woman, I feel sorta bad for dumping it all on Tommy so I move for the phone to see what they want now.
When I open the text, it just says ‘thank you,’ so I don’t have to respond and ruin my good mood with my family right now.
I swipe up to move screens back to home so I can turn back to the water and head for the dining room again when another screen catches my attention. It’s his photos and I’m caught by a wide smiling Emory. It brings a wide smile to my face, I love seeing my sister so happy.
I click onto the photos and look at the picture. She looks like she’s in a canoe and I realize one of their ‘dates’ was to the lake. I scoff, ready to shove this picture in Octavio’s face and demand I be allowed to use the canoe as well, but swipe for now. What other information can I find to get them to owe me, the fuckers.
The next swipe brings me to a wider view of Emory on the canoe and it’s obvious that they’re definitely on the lake. My grin widens at the incriminating evidence that will definitely get Octavio to give me the keys to the place.
Another swipe and now it’s a photo of the two of them in the canoe, the lake beautiful behind them. Another swipe and I’m watching a video of Emory insisting she could get out of the canoe and bring it out of the water on her own. She’s struggling and cussing Tommy to within an inch of his life and it’s hilarious, especially hearing Tommy’s laugh in the background.
I move to swipe again and accidentally open up the camera roll instead so I’m looking at rows and rows of pictures and videos of Emory and Tommy. Another few of them mud covered makes me smile until I realize they’re kissing in one of the photos.
My brows furry as I zoom into that picture and know for damn sure they’re kissing. I swipe back to the camera roll, my heart racing now.
I scroll until I see a photo of Emory sitting on the kitchen counter with barely anything on. My hearts running now as I click on it. Her smile is beautiful but that look in her eyes is anything but innocent.
I swipe quickly because I don’t want to imagine that and I’m brought onto a video. It’s obviously filmed from Tommy’s bed and is facing his bathroom door. I’m about to swipe thinking this is an accidental video when the door opens and an Emory in only a button down walks out.
“What are you doing?” Emory asks as she pauses.
“Capturing memories.” I can hear Tommy’s smile in the background.
“Oh.” Is her only response as a cunning smile turns her lips. Her fingers move for the buttons of the shirt and she moves forward a step as she slowly begins unbuttoning it.
I want to turn it off but I need to see where this is going. Were they fucking or were those few kisses and these teases it? I need to know how fucking crazy I must be to miss that my best friend was fucking my sister this entire time?
“Emory.” Tommy’s stern. “What’re you doing?”
“Giving you a memory to capture.” She pops open a button, but thankfully the shirt stays in place, covering her.
“Baby girl.”
It makes me sick to hear the need in his voice as another button pops open.
A final button holds the shirt covering her and everything in me knows they’ve been fucking. Every fiber of my body knows celibate fucking Tommy has been taking my baby sister into his bed.
It makes me sick to see Emory biting her lip as she eyes Tommy behind the camera as she undoes the final buttons, thankfully not falling naked in front of the camera. I don’t know what I’d do if I saw that.
Then she’s spinning. “You should flip the camera on yourself. Now that’s a look you want captured.”
“You’re a tease, baby girl.”
My subconscious picks up that I’m no longer alone in the kitchen, but I’m too hyperaware of the video to look up.
“That would mean I don’t intend to execute.” She’s licking her lips and eyeing Tommy with need and it turns my stomach to see that I’d been stupidly missing that my best friend has been taking advantage of my sister this entire time. “Or are you too tired? Unable?”
The phone drops to the bed so all I see it black but I hear Tommy’s growl as he jumps up and Emory’s giggles in the back. I hear the bed move as they fall onto it and I have to grind my jaw together to fight the animal growing in me.
“Want to say that again?”
“Are you impotent, Buttercup?”
Another growl from my best friend, then my stomach roils as I hear my sister’s moan.
“Does it feel like I’m impotent, baby girl?”
“Emory.”
“No. Sir.” Her moan starts and it’s too much to handle so I finally swipe up to come out of the camera roll and drop the phone to the island.
I can’t do anything, look anywhere but that spot at the edge of the island my gaze is frozen on. All I know is Tommy hasn’t been with anyone in years and I know damn well that he was blue balling his life away. I know that my sister came back and living with a woman as beautiful as her would be difficult for any man. That it made everything all too easy on them that I was out of the house.
So fucking easy for my best fucking friend to seduce my sister into his bed. The one man I trusted above all else to watch after her.
“Darius,” Emory’s voice breaks me from my running thoughts.
I finally look up and see them. The entire family is standing there but my gaze zeros in on my best friend and my kid sister. He has his arm before her and I don’t know why but that snaps me out of this hazy trance.
I step out from behind the island and keep my eyes on my best friend. “You’re fucking my sister?”
“Darius. I swear it’s not what it looks like,” he says.
“Really? Because what it’s looks like is that my best friend hasn’t had any action in two years, and my baby sister came home right on time to take advantage of the opportunity! Like she doesn’t matter at all.”
She’s my fucking sister. He’s been protecting her longer than I have. How could he take advantage of her trust like that?
“I swear, Darius, she matters. She matters more to me than anyone ever has. More than you matter to me.”
I scoff to keep myself from tackling him and I hear the snarl that comes with it. “Bullshit.”
He takes a tiny step forward. “She is the most important par…”
“Bullshit,” I yells. “Bullshit. If she were important to you, I would’ve heard about it from the beginning and not through a sex tape.”
A fucking sex tape. I’m gonna be sick.
I’m gonna be even more sick if he tries to say he cares. How could he care and not tell me?
“I wanted to tell you.”
And I want to pummel his fucking face in.
“Wanted.” My fists clench at my sides as another scoff comes out. “Wanted? You always tell me the most important things going on in your life. That’s what we do. We tell each other those things. You not coming to me with this tells me exactly where you find my sister in your life choices.”
“It’s not like we haven’t been showing everyone what’s going on between us. Everyone else picked up on it!”
I scoff again. It’s the only thing holding me back right now. “Bullshit. You knew all I saw was the way you two acted when we were younger.” They’d always been extra fucking touchy. This was them. How did it change? “Obviously, I wasn’t gonna think anything of it. It’s how you’ve always been together! Except I didn’t realize that now you’re also coming in her!”
“Would you stop talking about it like I’m using her for her body?” he says angrily now.
Another scoff. “You’re trying to tell me you didn’t fuck her?”
I know he fucked her. Know it by the way they’re standing together now even without the video evidence. My fucking brother manipulated my little sister!
His jaw tics. “Oh, I absolutely fucked her. But she’s not just the convenient hot chick in my house. I’m in love with her, Darius.”
I’m gonna fucking kill him.
My fist flies as the words echo in my head. I’m in love with her, Darius. I’m in love with her, Darius. I’m in love…
My dad and Octavio hold me back before I can go in for another. Then, as if to add flame to my fire, Emory’s softly moving him to sit on a stool by the island.
She’s so fucking gentle with him as she asks, “Baby, are you all right?” I want to rip his head off.
Tommy looks over at me as he answers, “Fine.”
Fine. He’s fine? He’s fucking my sister, fucking with my head and he’s fucking fine? I hate him.
“So this entire time I’ve trusted you with my baby sister, and you’ve just been treating her like your personal whore,” I spit because I need him to not be fine.
He rushes for me and I invite the anger in his eyes because I need a fight, but Octavio catches him before he could make it to me. Dad still has me in his hold so I can’t make it to him either.
Then Emory’s there again, looking up at him with something that makes me angrier.
“Sit down.” She’s gentle, but demanding. “Baby, please go sit down.”
Baby…
Baby.
Fucking baby.
Tommy moves back for the stool and she’s between his legs as she takes his face in her hands like it’s just the two of them. “He didn’t mean it, Tommy.”
That Emory was a whore? Of course I didn’t.
That I’m going to kill him? With every fiber of my being did I mean it.
“He didn’t mean it,” she repeats
“I know,” he whispers.
She kisses his forehead and it’s like a punch in the gut to do this in front of me right now.
Then she turns on me. “I’m the reason he didn’t tell you, Darius. So if you’re going to be mad at anyone, it’s me.”
“Baby, it’s not your faul…” Tommy starts.
“You know I need to keep the most important things in my life private,” she interrupts him. “He wanted to tell you. Our first fight was actually because he wanted to tell you and I didn’t. You know how I am. You never asked so we never said anything.”
So it’s not just that my best friend betrayed me? It’s that my princess of a little sister doesn’t trust me?
I can’t handle this. I thought Emory and I had a special sibling bond but apparently that was as one sided as my friendship with Tommy had been.
I throw hands off of me and finally look at my dad. “I’ll see you at home.”
Then I walk out before anyone else could say anything. I don’t want to hear from anyone right now.